Unique Low

Impact Expeditions Since 1999

The
Students Meet the Jungle

We took thirteen high school students and
two teachers from an international school to Khao Sok
National Park in February. Most of the students described
themselves as city people since they live in Bangkok. In the
quiet and isolation of the bungalows at the end of the
reservoir, they became absorbed in the abundant jungle life
around them. One student returned to school to establish a
school kayak club. Two boys stated with certainty one
morning they were going to learn the Eskimo roll that day.
And they did. After the trip, the email responses from the
students were very special.

A main feature of the Khao Sok trip is wildlife
viewing. To prepare for this, we went through the
basics of paddling the boats. We included wet re-entry so
the students would understand that capsizing wasn't the end
of the world. Indeed, the assisted re-entry and the cowboy
scramble became popular moves to practice. We had racing
games. Some of the students excelled in brisk forward
strokes, others found rear stroke racing to be more exciting
and unpredictable. Everyone liked racing.

Once
we were confident the students had basic boating skills,
we divided into smaller groups and moved to different coves.
Some students saw Long-tail macaques. Hornbill sightings,
including the Great hornbill, were common. Dusky langurs,
oddly enough, seemed to have moved deeper into the jungle.

However, we did see a coal-black Banded langur. Several
students saw a White-handed gibbon high in a tree, but it
quickly moved away.

The
last evening of our stay, we paddled to a large
cove some distance from the bungalows. After the sun had
dropped behind the hill, two students heard wild pigs
thrashing around the vegetation near the shore. One girl was
just waiting for her friends when she noticed a pig moving
from the water into the jungle. In the dusk, as we were
paddling back toward the bungalows, we heard the rhythmic
breaking of bamboo as an elephant walked near us but out of
sight. My flashlight could not penetrate far enough to get a
look.

Another highlight of this trip was a trip through
the cave. There are many caves in the area, but
this one is ideal for most people. It is like a
demonstration project to understand the diversity of life
within a limestone cave. Bat droppings are food to crickets
and spiders. Fish approach us as we cross the stream that
flows through the cave. We are well past rainy season so the
water level is low. The cave narrows further in and we
descend between two rock walls into the deeper water for a
little swim. The students were in great spirits as we
emerged from the darkness into the warmth of the jungle.

The group was booked on a morning flight
out of Phuket, so the last day we had to get an early start.
The previous night Dave and I tied the kayaks in two lines,
bow to stern. Then in the morning we loaded the two longtail
boats, tied a line of 'yaks to the back of each, and left
the bungalows well before sunrise. The group easily made
their flight; good planning pays off. We look forward to
taking another group of students for a kayaking trip next
year.